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1.
Nico knew the moment his mother pushed him aside to run to her scumbag boyfriend that he is forever her second choice.
They lived in a small tiny one bedroom in a rundown apartment where stray dogs run smoke and the roads cracked with potholes and overgrown weed. His room was a dirty old couch that was barely big enough for him to lay down with his leg fully stretch, and the floor was always covered in dirty takeout container, junk that his mother gather from whichever thrift store and garage sale she visited, cigarette remains, and empty liquor bottles. Despite all the trash that kept accumulating and the roaches that had become third and fourth and so on inhabitants of the 500 square feet squalor, Nico still felt like he wasn’t worth a damn in her eyes compared to the garbages on the floor.
Actually, sometimes, she was nice to him. One time, when she got back from the job that she recently lost at McDonald’s, she brought back a happy meal for him that consisted of 5 pieces of chicken nuggets and some golden crispy fries, and a figurine of some movie that his mother had said no to when he asked her to take him to the theater.
It was the best chicken nuggets and fries he has, and Nico kept the toy on the side table next to his sofa where he can look at it every night.
His mother had been dating this guy she met at rehab named John. He was a fucking piece of garbage with hands that were always itching for liquor and a mean streak that often ended with a black eye and a couple of slaps to the face for his mother, and bruised arm and cracked ribs for Nico. Nico rarely wore anything that wasn’t long sleeves, even in the sweltering summer heat that beat down his head and promised a heat stroke if he didn’t seek shelter soon. Despite that, Nico didn’t stay home often. Any moment he could, he spent outside, running around on the sun-beaten concrete road or hiding under the tiny wooden bridge that held up the train track. He listened as the train rolls past, wheel beating up on the rock laid underneath it, and let his mind dream of a home where he is wanted and loved.
It was supposed to be a day like any other day. It was one of Nico’s classmates' birthday, and his mother had brought in cupcakes and, with the help of the teacher, filled up the room with colorful banners and balloons. The kids yelled excitedly, then were promptly told to behave by their 4th-grade teacher, Mrs. Hope. She was a kind-looking woman with long blonde hair in her late 20s. She had been teaching for only a couple of years and was already round with her second child the entire time she was there.
Nico asked her once about her baby, to which she replied while rubbing her stomach very fondly. Nico wondered if his mother looked the same when she had him.
They pushed their table together to form a group of four. Nico wasn’t close with any of the children who sit in his group, but for that one moment, they smiled and laughed with him and he laughed back, and he felt belonged. They all sang happy birthday, with the birthday boy smiling brightly as his classmate and the adults in the room celebrated the one day that makes any child feel special. The birthday boy’s mother and Mrs. Hope then passed out the cupcake. Nico muttered thank you when he received his, cupcake that was larger than his hand, with blue frosting that looks so soft Nico wonder what it was like to fall into it. The children around him dug immediately in once Mrs Hope gives them the go-ahead.
The sweetness of the first bite burst in his mouth. The cake was moist and soft and it melt on Nico’s tongue. He wanted to throw the whole cupcake in his mouth, lest someone decide to take it away from him before he has as much as he desired. But halfway through, his mother’s face popped into his mind, and Nico decided to save half of it for her. Nico didn’t remember the last time she celebrate her birthday, and he certainly didn’t remember the last time she celebrate his birthday. He decided that this would be his late birthday present to her. When he deemed no one is looking, Nico wrapped up the half-eaten cupcake and sneaked it into the pocket of his threadbare pants.
He should have known to stay away when he heard the sounds of glass shattering as he arrived at the apartment's front door. It was a common occurrence, and the inhabitants of the apartment had learned to turn a blind eye to it, only occasionally sparing Nico a pitiful look that he certainly didn’t need. His hands started sweating, and there was a heavy feeling in his stomach that was familiar. Before he was even aware, he had thrown the door open and ran in front of his mother, shielding her from the incoming slap from a very intoxicated John. The force sent his small body crumbling to the ground, and Nico sat dazed as a tirade of curse and scream streamed out of the drunk bastard’s mouth.
In retrospective, he should have close the door and left. His action only inspired a worse kind of fury in John.
“You little bastard,” the man screamed. “If you want to be a hero so bad, I’ll make you a hero.”
He proceeded to beat the shit out of Nico. By the time he regained consciousness, his body was black and blue with bruises and cuts from the glass bottles that had shattered on the floor, a mushed half-eaten cupcake with blue frosting smearing the pocket of his pants. His mother was in her room. The white from the TV snucked underneath the gap between the door and the floor, and by the front door, John’s shoes were still there.
He threw away the toy after that and immediately regretted it when he saw the garbage truck leave the apartment.
He arrived at the group home on a bright sunny day, a trash bag in his hand that held all of his meager belonging. He was greeted by Miss Melanie, a portly woman with warm brown hair and plump arms that seem to give the best hug.
She did give great hugs, welcoming Nico into the house with a kind smile and fussy words about how skinny he looked. His curious eyes scanned the home. It looked like just like any of the homes he’d stayed temporarily at, except that there were way too many things. Too many chairs, too many shoes neatly stacked next to each other, and too many curious eyes that were following Nico as Miss Melanie led him up to his room.
He liked living at the house. It was better than his old foster homes that always treat him like a burden. And it was a lot better than staying with Conrad and his wandering hands. Here, no one looked at him with those eyes full of self-righteousness that masks as a fake concern, and no one sneaks into his room at night and puts their hand down his pants.
He hated being called a handsome boy because that was what Conrad called him. He preferred being called Nicholas because the name was all he has. No home, no family, just Nicholas.
He had nightmares, but everybody here had nightmares, and he learned how to get used to it. He helped around the house and took care of the younger children because he was one of the oldest kids and Miss Melanie was always stretched thin.
“I’m just a kid too.” He grumbled as he pushed Maleyene’s cradle and kept watch until she fell asleep. He didn’t say it to Miss Melanie though because he knew adults’ hearts grow smaller the older they get.
Nico’s first love was a boy named Michael. He was a couple of inches shorter than Nico, with a head full of thick curly hair, warm brown skin, and eyes that shone like stars when he smiled. They sat next to each other in math class at the beginning of tenth grade. Michael came from a good family that went to church every Sunday and made it their duty to attend every football game and track meets at his high school. Michael was a good student and a star track athletic. Nico was the kid that always wore ratty secondhand clothes and whose fingers always smell like cigarettes. Despite their differences, they hit it off easily and became fast friends. He came to Michael’s house often after that, and Michael’s mom would always make sure to set out an extra plate for him and Michael’s father always preached about doing good by God by taking care of unfortunate orphans like Nico. He really wasn’t an orphan. His mother was still alive and called him once a year on his birthday. He used to look forward to her call, but she was always drunk, and eventually Nico learned to let the sound of the ringtone faded to black. But Michael’s father called him an orphan and he let the man do it so he could spend time with Michael anyway.
One night, when Nico stayed over at Michael’s home, with the promise to go to church with his family tomorrow morning, instead of the usual complains of hogging up the bed and the playful pushes they usually did to each other, they laid side by side and face toward each other, their hearts beat in that awful way that signals a metamorphosis of their relationship. Michael did not resist when Nico pulled him closer. Michael raised his head and Nico lowered his and they kissed, and the room, despite being the same temperature as it was before, felt very bright and hot. And inside Nico’s heart awakened a beast that he could never ignore again.
Nico awoke to the shrill scream of Michael’s mother and a large hand that reached out to grab bruisingly at Nico’s arms, yanked him off the bed and threw him down the floor. Nico looked up to the furious face of Michael’s father and the terrified face of a half-naked Michael, still sitting on the bed and partially covered by the sheet that laid witness to the one tender hour last night when Nico and Michael shared between themselves an act of love.
Michael’s father dropped him off at the group home after a suffocating fifteen-minute drive and threatened him with the gun if he ever approached Michael again.
When Nico went back to school the next day, he and Michael were strangers, because Michael was a good boy and all-star athletic who went to church every Sunday and Nico was an orphan and a faggot who would surely go to hell.
4.
Nico found out about his half-brother when he turned 17. By then, he was already moved out of the group home and lived in a tiny rundown studio that was only furnished with a mattress that he left on the floor without any sheet, a table with an old potato that had grown a couple of inch sprout from its eyes, and a framed picture of him with the children at the group home. It didn’t seem to bother the occasional hookups Nico brought back with him, but they never stay more than a night.
It was through his mother, whom he sparingly contacts throughout the years. Apparently, his father wasn’t a deadbeat dad after all, at least for the family that he'd been playing good daddy with for the past 17 years. It was the realization that he wasn’t worth a single year to his dad that crushed Nico, but only for a short bit. Nothing alcohol he got through the back alley couldn’t fix.
Nico’s father was a man that was referred to by everyone in his life as Chapel, and his half-brother was a boy who was only a year younger than him with a baby face and a head full of bleached blond hair named Livio. Chapel did not want Livio to meet Nico, but he had insisted on getting to know his half brother and Chapel had begrudgingly brought him to meet Nico at a KFC that had half of its chairs missing and a cashier that looked like he wanted to be anywhere but working at a KFC. Chapel acted like he was really generous by getting Nico that meal, but he was happy to get something on his empty stomach nonetheless. He asked Nico how he had been doing, and Nico wanted to throw the food in his face and asked why does he care? Because after 17 years there was no way Chapel could find the conscience in him to look out for the child he had abandoned and wanted to reconcile with. But all he said was fine and made sure every word that came out of his mouth was like pulling teeth for Chapel.
Livio was decent though. Nico, despite his resistance, found himself liking the kid and kept in contact after the meet-up.
It was Livio who reached out to him and let him know that Chapel had died of cancer a month after their meeting.
So it was a dying man’s regret after all.
Nico cried anyway, despite his mind yelling at his heart not to.
Then, God must have decided that Nico didn’t suffer enough. Three weeks after his birthday and eight months after Chapel’s death, he found out that his mother also died through Miss Melanie. It was from an overdose.
He drank a lot that night and went on a drive. When Nico woke up, his car was in a ditch and he felt shattered glasses on his face.
It took him a while before he could find his phone and call for help. It scared him to realize that there was no one he could call when he was in trouble, and if he died, there would be no one to grieve him.
After the first DUI and a stint at AAA, Nico quit drinking, at least behind the wheel. Trying to be better doesn’t numb the pain.
Nico looked into the mirror and saw more of his mother every day.
5.
Nico meets Vash when blonde stumbles into the diner that he’s working at, asks for the biggest slide of key lime pie they gave, then proceeds to abuse their free coffee refill policy as he sits on a booth in the far left corner, typing away on his laptop until the moon is high in the sky. It’s a mom-and-pop type of diner that’s been around since the 70s, with a checkered tile floor and neon light flashing on the wall, and a jukebox that stands more as decoration than a music-playing device. Nico likes to play music sometimes, out of nostalgia for a time he has never lived through and boredom more than anything. It costs money and he couldn’t afford to pay for a Spotify subscription.
They don’t usually get a lot of traffic on the weekdays, mostly some old couples going on dates or college students whose shallow pockets love the $2 unlimited coffee. Nico himself never went to college. He barely graduated high school and went straight to work before his diploma even arrived in the mail. He worked for a couple of years as a line cook, but hated the work and the line cooks who are always head-deep in some kind of drug and whose penchant for teenage girls is even more disgusting than the grease Nico scrapes off the fryers every night. He also hates the smell of grease clinging to his hair and quits shortly after a friend of Miss Melanie offers him the server job at their family dinner. He’s grateful. They pay him decent and treat him nicely and sometimes allow him to bring home boxes full of unsold pie. Nico doesn’t have anyone to share it with, but it’s free food, and he often gets sick by the third day of eating pie for a meal.
He watches from the corner of his eyes, pretending to be on his phone halfway then switch to the sudoku book he just bought recently, as the blonde sip on what has to be his fourth cup of coffee, hair messy and eye bloodshot, but still very gorgeous not in an all American way but in a James Dean daydream kinda way, long soft line and sleepy eyes that are only made more mesmerizing by the baby blue orbs and tiny beauty mark underneath it. He is sweet, greeting Nico with a wide smile, and stands five minutes at the counter to ask about his day, looking genuinely interested.
“You got a favorite pie?” Vash asks as Nico opens the display case to grab the key lime pie.
“Hmm? Not really. Maybe apple pie.” Nico says without thinking much. Usually, his customers, especially the young ones, don’t engage in conversation. He also doesn’t care that much about pie, if he has to be honest.
“Really? I’d peg you as a chocolate pie kinda person,” Vash says, tapping on his lips like he’s making some great discovery.
Nico raises his eyes. “Why? Cause I got brown skin?”
That got a flush out of Vash, spreading from the tips of his ears down to his neck.
“No no.” Vash waves his hand, flustered. “I mean you look like you’d be a comforting kinda person. Dependable, you know? Like how chocolate could warm anyone up and make their day better,” Vash rambles. He looks embarrassed, alternating between pinching his hand and tapping nervously on the floor.
It’s cute. Nico snorts. “Relax, dude. I’m just joking. I don’t like pie, but yea, I’ll pick a chocolate pie.”
He plates the pie up and then hands it to Vash. “Enjoy. I’ll be over to get you a refill once I see that cup’s getting empty.”
Vash beams, warm as the summer sun. “Thanks!”
Nico would have fallen in love then and there, but he knows what it’s like to open your heart to someone, to prostrate upon the mercy that is their fickle feelings, to have their soft touch and tender love that only comes from a source of confusion, or, even worse, their ego.
He could have fallen in love then and there, but alcohol will wash those feelings away again.
Vash stays for a long time. No customers come in between, giving Nico plenty of time to just do Sudoku and sneak glance at Vash’s pretty face. His shift ends in one hour, which means he has one hour to live his daydream with James Dean right there before they inevitably go back to their separate lives. Oh well. Another one to the long list of disappointments in Nico’s life.
Nico’s eyes drift down to the coffee mug that is close to reaching the bottom. He needs to brew another batch. Nico walks over to the coffee machine and grabs the pre-grind coffee container, scoops out an appropriate amount and places it in the fresh filter, then closes the lid and hits the brew button. He watches as the machine whirrs into life, watches as the water boils, and comes out of the machine freshly brewed mediocre coffee. He grabs the full pot and then heads over to Vash.
Vash is still typing away on his computer. Within the first refill, Nico notices that he has a habit of typing most with his right hand. His left is wearing a glove. Must be some kind of fashion statement.
He doesn’t ask though.
“Refill?” Nico offers. Vash’s head shots up from the screen to look at him. Nico nearly snorts. He looks so bleary and tired and definitely should not drink his probably sixth cup, but he still nods at the offer anyway.
“Just one more,” Vash yawns. “I think my brother’s about to be done anyway. He’s picking me up.”
“You’ve got a brother?” Nico asks. He makes sure to fill the cup up but not to the point it might spill.
“Yea. He’s my twin. He acts like he’s my big big brother though. Always Vash did you eat? Vash be home by 10. No Vash you can’t eat donuts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We’re only a couple of minutes apart, at least that’s what I think. He got such a tight leash on my life.” Vash pouts, his lips shiny and a pretty pink.
“It tracks. You look like you were a leash child,” Wolfwood says, a teasing smile on his lips.
Vash gasps then whines. “That’s mean. Both Nai and I were leashed children, mind you. He just thinks his leash is off and mine is now transferred to him.” His hand wraps around the mug, pretty and slender fingers that are pink at the tip. “He’s just overprotective, even more after my accident.”
Nico’s eyebrows raise. “Your accident?”
Vash freezes. “Oh, yea…”
“Don’t gotta tell me if you don’t want to, Needle Noggins,” Nico says, throwing his free hand up.
“Needle- what?” Vash stares at him with those big doe eyes, then shakes his head. “It’s fine. I don’t mind sharing if you’re not bothered.”
Nico shrugs. “I’m not, but doesn’t mean I’ll offer my life story if you do.”
“Of course,” Vash nods like an eager puppy. “I’d love to know more about you though.”
Goddamnit. Those baby seal eyes are going to be the death of him.
“We’ll see. You offer yours and I’ll offer mine,” Nico says, setting the pot on the table at the next booth and sitting down on the seat opposite Vash.
Nico’s eyes widen when Vash takes off his gloves and shows him the shiny teal prosthetic.
“This goes to the upper half of my arm. It doesn’t have a ton of mobility, but I’m in the line for SEED neurorobotic arm trial testing. One of the many perks of having a genius for a brother.” Vash flexes the hand, which seems to be limited to opening and closing. “I’d have to learn how to type with both now, though. Would be nice. I’m thinking of learning how to juggle,” he grins.
Nico laughs, crackling sounds that come from the bottom of his belly that is soon joined by Vash’s. It takes a moment for the laughter to subside and for Vash to continue.
“It was a car accident. A drunk driver hit us. I lost my left arm and right leg to it,” Vash points to his leg. “And my mom lost her life.”
Nico’s heart drops. “Shit, Needle Noggins. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Vash waves his hand, but his voice is somber. “It was a long time ago. It took a while for me to adjust to it though, and a very long time to grieve, but Nai was there with me the entire way. That’s why I can’t be mad at him even though he gets too much sometimes. He just cares a lot.”
Nico would be lying if he says he doesn’t feel jealous of Vash for having someone who cares so much about him.
“So what about you?” Vash puts his hands under his chin. “What’s your story?”
Nico doesn’t share. Getting words out of him is like pulling teeth, but there is something about Vash that lowers the barriers he had built up for himself over the years.
“I work at a diner. I smoke Swarm7 on a regular, and Skullz whenever I want something fancier. And I live alone,” Nico says in one go. Vash doesn’t need to know much.
“That’s a pretty short story,” Vash comments.
Nico shrugs. “That’s all you get from me today, Needle Noggins. Come back if you want to know more.”
Vash’s eyes lit up, and the room suddenly feels very warm.
“You promise?” Vash asks, eye shinning like stars.
Inside of him, that slumbering beast awakens again. “I promise.”
Vash beams.
Vash’s brother arrives to pick him up not long after. Vash bounces toward the car as he waves goodbye to Nico, and he could see, from the side mirror, Vash’s brother looks at him searchingly. It doesn’t matter, because he has Vash’s number and a promise that he would come back.
Vash does, to Nico’s surprise, return the day after, asking for another key lime pie and forcing Nico to brew another pot of coffee just for him that he eagerly finishes.
“I don’t know why you come here. This coffee is garbage,” Nico says, pouring Vash his third cup.
Vash grins. “It used to be. It tastes better now though. Must be because you made it.”
Goddamnit. Nico hopes his face isn’t flushed red like the way he feels hot all over.
Vash wraps up his work an hour before his brother picks him up and calls Nico over. Nico rolls his eyes, yells at Vash to tip him better or he won’t get his service, but comes over anyway.
He finds out that Vash is working toward his Bachelor's in Social Work, and he spends every weekend volunteering despite his busy school schedule and very active social life. It doesn’t surprise Nico that Vash has a lot of friends. His best friends are these two girls named Meryl and Milly, both Journalism majors, and both have been Vash’s suitemates since freshman year. They had hit it off immediately and Vash convinced his brother, who, from what Vash described, seem to detest any human that isn’t Vash, to find the philanthropy in himself to become their last roommate once they move off campus.
“He complains a lot,” Vash says. “But I know he loves Meryl and Milly. He always DD when we go to party and makes sure we’re tucked in bed after.”
“You sound like a real handful, Needle Noggins,” Nico teases.
“Hey! I’d DD too, but I can’t drive,” Vash huffs indignantly. There’s a bit of blueberry pie that’s stuck at the corner of his mouth, and Nico wants to reach out and wipe it off for him. He lets the thoughts hang in the space separating them.
“I can see,” Nico grins. “Your brother picks you up every time. He doesn’t seem to like that you spend all your free time at a diner that doesn’t even have good coffee.” What Nico wants to say is that Vash’s brother doesn’t like him.
Vash pouts. “I feel bad, cause he’s always busy with the lab, but I can’t hang out with you any other way.”
Nico feels a door creak open for him.
“I can take you home, if you’re okay with being on the back of a bike. My shift usually ends when you leave anyway.” He offers, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could.
Vash’s eyes widen. “You have a motorcycle?”
Nico nods. “Yea. Angelina has been with me for two years.”
“Wow. I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before,” Vash gushes. He looks so sweet, with his eyes blown big, full of awe at Nico.
“Not the only thing you can ride, you know?” Nico wiggles his eyebrow, and Vash flushes right red. They’ve been flirting for a while, a little tug-of-war game neither of them yet to give in. It isn’t as if Nico is a blushing virgin. He’s been with plenty of people, even in a couple of short relationships that did not end amiably. But there is something about Vash that makes him feel scared, like a little child that finds out that you have to handle something fragile like eggs carefully, or they’ll break. His relationship with Vash tetters on being nothing and something, no words defining it but always promises of something more. And it scares him because he doesn’t want Vash to be gone from his life, but doesn’t know how to fit Vash into his life. Vash is something bright, something dazzling, full of hope and promise of a better day. And all Nico has is the tiny studio apartment, ghosts of the past that he can’t seem to be able to get rid of, and a name that is given to him by a woman who has never once treated him as someone to be loved.
On the outside, he puts on his best bravado and teases and flirts and hopes that Vash notice that Nico’s words always carry a bit more affection toward him than anyone he speaks to.
Eventually, though, the curtain has to fall and the play will stop.
It comes on the night of Nico’s birthday.
Nico doesn’t celebrate his. It doesn’t make it any less disappointing when the day is getting close to ending and all he got was a happy birthday text from Livio and a message from Vash that says he couldn’t make it to their usual coffee and pie session because Meryl and Milly are throwing a party to celebrate them both getting accepted to a huge fellowship they’ve been working hard toward. Nico knows they’re important people in Vash’s life, and that compare to them, Nico only occupies a small part of Vash’s heart, but he is disappointed nonetheless.
He takes customer orders, brew coffee, looks at the clock, scratches agitatedly at the Sudoku book, cleans the table, then looks at the clock again. All day, his fingers have been itching to reach for his phone, pull up his message and dial that familiar number.
Hey, Needle Noggins. I don’t call often, but guess what, happy birthday to me.
Hey, Needle Noggins. Guess what today is? No, it’s not national donut day. Your favorite guy was born today.
Hey, Needle Noggins. Just letting you know I miss you all day even though we see each other twice every week and my greedy heart doesn't think that it’s enough. I want to see you today. It’s my birthday, and I can’t think of any better way to celebrate it than to celebrate it with you.
Hey, Vash. Did you forget my birthday? It’s okay. I’m calling to remind you because I miss you and I wish you can be here to celebrate my birthday with me. I don’t need cake. I don’t need presents. I just want you here with me.
Hey, Vash. Calling from birthday boy’s cellphone. Please don’t forget about me.
When the short handle strikes 7 and the long strikes 6, Nico decides to give up. Another disappointment to the long list of disappointments Nico has accumulated through the years.
He just didn’t think it was Vash who’s going to break his heart this time.
6.
Nico straightens up and grabs the mop to clean up the diner before he turns it to the night shift. It wasn’t a busy day, but he takes his time cleaning to keep his mind off the empty feeling in his heart.
From the corner of his eyes, he can see the car headlight flashing through the window. That must be the night shift lady. Nico sighs. He’d appreciate a drink right now, maybe straight from the bottle and until his brain scrambles itself back into that primordial pool of darkness.
Then the door opens, and instead of the night shift lady, a familiar face with a fluffy mop of blonde hair and baby-blue eyes steps through the door. He is wearing that large red jacket he always wears, with matching a flush on his face.
In his hand, there is a cake with a lit candle that says 22 on it.
“I made it in time,” Vash runs up to Nico, that stupidly large and beautiful smile on his face.
“Sorry, I couldn’t make it to our usual date today. Meryl and Milly have been planning this party for weeks and I just couldn’t miss it, but today is your birthday and I can’t miss that either. You have to see the look on their faces when I begged them to let me go early and had to tell them why. I don’t think they’ll ever let me live that down. What’s wrong with wanting to celebrate the birthday of someone very special in my life?” Vash rambles, his face flushes red, and eyebrows move in that very animated way they always move when Vash gets excited. He looks so so lovely in Nico’s eyes.
Then he turns to Nico and Nico feels his heart nearly burst.
“Happy Birthday, Nick!” He holds the cake to Nico, as if expecting him to make a wish and blow it out.
Nico does, dazed and mesmerized by the way Vash’s cheeks flush red and the candlelight reflects off his eyes.
Then Vash does something Nico has only dreamed of. He leans over and kisses Nico on his cheek.
He has half a mind to know that Vash’s overprotective brother probably drove him here, but he doesn’t care, because Nico’s hands go up to grab Vash’s face and pull him into a kiss. From the kitchen, he hears a little whistle and cheer from the line cook, who’s probably thoroughly entertained by the scene in front of him.
He doesn’t care, because Vash sighs contently and returns his kiss.
- Bonus
Vash’s brother glares at Nico when he and Vash walk out, Vash’s arm looping around Nico’s own. He’s seen that glare plenty of times when he drops Vash off after finishing his shift. Nai doesn't like him, so it surprises Nico when he steps aside to let Vash grab the box for the cake from the shotgun seat and whispers in his ears. “Treat him well.”
Nico doesn’t reply, but gives him a look that seems to be enough to soften the creases between Nai’s eyebrows.
After Vash has packed up the cake, he bounces back to Nico’s side and wraps his arm around Wolfwood’s right arm again.
“I’m ready. Let’s go,” Vash says, snuggling up to Nico. Nico feels warm all over.
“Hold on,” Nai interjects. “Go where?”
“To Nick’s place. I’m staying over tonight.” Vash says like it’s a matter of fact.
Nai’s eyes nearly pop out of their socket. “Absolutely not. You’re not spending a night over at some guy's place.” He emphasizes the word some guy , glaring at Nico.
“He’s not some guy,” Vash argues. “He’s my boyfriend.” Nico’s hearts bloom when he hears the title that signals the change in their relationship.
“Even more reason for you to not stay over,” Nai fumes.
“Come on, Nai. You promised me to stop being so overbearing.” Vash whines. His arms tightened around Nico’s. “I’m not that little kid you need to carry to bed every night anymore, you know? I can do things on my own now. Trust me with my own decision, okay?” He looks up at Nai, eyes begging.
Nai puffs up for a second, then deflates. “Okay. But come home by 9 tomorrow, okay? I want to check on your arm before I leave.”
Vash beams and nods eagerly. “Yes! You’re the best, Nai!”
Nai suddenly turns to Nico, whom he’s been promptly ignoring for the duration of the conversation that clearly involves the latter. “And you,” he points to Nico. “Take care of him, or I’ll find you regardless of which corner of the earth you run to and skin you alive.”
Nico rolls his eyes at the grand display of drama. “I swear I will have him back in one piece. Not promising he’s going to be returning pristine though. You might find a mark here and there.”
“ You little-, ” Nai fumes.
Vash pulls Nico toward his bicycle before anything could go wrong. “Bye, Nai. See you tomorrow! Love you!” He yells back.
Nico snickers as a string of curses, interjects by Love you too, Vash bounces back from Nai’s direction.
Vash hits his arm. “Why did you have to provoke him like that? I want to make a good impression,” he whines.
Nico grins. “It’s time he loosens that leash on you. You’re going to be spending a lot more time with me after all.”
“He’s going to tighten that leash after that display of yours if anything,” Vash grumbles.
The hand Nico sneaks around his waist got his face to soften up. “Come on, Needle Noggins. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this.”
They stumble into Nico’s apartment, lips smashing and hands running up and down each other's body, making a sport of who could strip off the other person’s clothes the fastest. Vash doesn’t ask as Nico pulls him down to the mattress on the floor, thankfully with a clean sheet now. They don’t turn on the light, letting the moonlight falls through the window panes and onto the mattress where their bodies lay on top. Vash is straddling him. With his cloth fully off, Nico is finally able to see the full extent to which his body was fucked up by the accidents. Lines and ropes of scar snake through the surface of his body, leaving barely any area undisturbed. Nico swallows back the lump in his throat when he remembers Vash said it was a drunk driver. He lets his hands rest on the small of Vash’s waist, taking in as much as he could from the other man, his honey-blonde hair that glow white under the moonlight, his long eyelashes that cast a shadow on his pale cheek, covering his beauty mark, his body which is made of long soft line that still managed to look strong, the real prosthetic that gleams under the moonlight. Nico groans when his eyes move down to get a look at the wet mound between Vash’s legs, so pink and needy. He looks ethereal, like an angel, and he’s looking at Nico with the reverence he doesn’t deserve.
Nico tries to sit up, but Vash pushes him down.
“Let me take care of you, Nick.” Vash purrs.
“You are so gorgeous.”
The timber of Vash’s voice sends shivers down Nico’s spine. Vash leans down to pull him into an all-consuming kiss, nibbling at his bottom lips and swiping at the roof of his mouth, then slowly moving down his body, leaving kitten licks and kisses on his skin. It tickles a bit and it is nice and Nico just feels so overwhelmed because he’s always been the one to take charge and flirts and kisses and makes sure that his partner is taken care of. And they let him because he’s good at giving and they love to take.
But Vash isn’t like that. Vash gives as much as he takes and even more. And he treats Nico like something, someone, to be loved, calls him pretty, and gorgeous as his lips leave his mark on Nico’s skin and peel back the layers Nico has built up over of the years to protect himself with his gentle touch and Nico just let him.
Nico doesn’t realize he’s crying until Vash’s slender fingers reach up to his face and wipe at his tears.
“Sorry,” Nico hiccups. “Sorry. This never happens before. I don’t know what came over me.” It’s embarrassing. It’s really embarrassing, because he’s supposed to tease and flirt with Vash and makes his cheeks flush a pretty pink, then pushes him down and fuck him until he could do nothing but rolls in the heat of their shared pleasure and come messily on the sheet. But Nico is crying, and it’s embarrassing and there’s nothing he can do to stop the way his body trembles with the waves of his turmoils. And Vash, he doesn’t know why he’s surprised, like the darling he is, just wipes at Nico's tears and whispers it’s okay to his ears as he peppers kisses on Nico’s face and waits for him to come back to himself.
“You okay?” Vash asks when Nico’s body has stopped trembling. He doesn’t look turned off, doesn’t look disgusted, doesn’t look burdened, at that is more than Nico can ask for, but he has to look at Nico with an expression of absolute adoration and Nico doesn’t know what he would do if he ever lose it.
Nico nods. “Sorry. I’m okay. We can keep going.”
“Okay,” Vash replies softly. “Can I ride you?”
Nico snorts, a sound that’s a bit wetter than usual. “You’ve been thinking about that since I gave you a ride on Angelina, haven’t you?”
Vash grins cheekily. “Maybe.”
He slides down on Nico’s body when Nico gives him a groan that sounds like Fuck yes, Needle Noggins. You can ride me all night long if you want.
Nico watches as Vash stands on his knee and pushes his legs wider to start fingering himself, spreading himself open and preparing himself for Nico.
He sounds so wet and sloppy and Nico wants to see him fucking himself on Nico’s bed with that glazed-out look on his face as he desperately chases his own orgasm.
Once Vash feels himself to be ready, he hovers on top of Nico, letting the tip of Nico’s hard and leaking cock snags at the opening of his slit.
“Jesus,” Nico nearly screams. He’s so hard he could explode. “Get on with it already, Needle Noggins.”
“So impatient,” Vash teases. “Be a good boy, Nick, and I’ll give you your reward.”
With that, he lowers himself on Nico and lets the head of Nico’s cock pops past the ring of his entrance, eliciting low moans from both of them.
Vash moves quickly and hard, pulling himself up and dropping down, squeezing Nico in periodic intervals. All Nico could do is to grab at his bed sheets as his hip buckle up to meet the force of Vash’s movement. The sounds of skin slapping and squelching reverberate through the thin walls, and Nico knows his neighbor would surely hear this but he does not care. All that matters to him is the way Vash looks, all open and greedy as he chases his orgasm on Nico’s cock, and the way his cunt sinfully squeezes Nico, milking every last drop from Nico when he comes.
Vash comes shortly after, his thigh trembles, and his back arches as his body is overcome by the sheer force of his orgasm.
It takes both of them a few minutes to come down from their high, filling the room with the sounds of their heavy breathing and soft little groans. Then Vash slowly pull himself up, letting Nico’s cock drags across the wall of his cunt and releasing the spent member with a wet pop.
“Damn. That’s hot,” Nice couldn’t help but groan when he sees the white liquid. Vash snickers then drop to the space next to Nico.
“It’s definitely better than riding Angelina,” Vash grins, his cheeks high and flushed red.
“I’m going to have to patch up that mouth of yours, Needle Noggins. How are you out dirty talking me?” Nico wraps his arm around Vash and pulls him close, their legs intertwining.
“I’m full of surprises, what can I say,” Vash laughs.
He is. When Nico walks up tomorrow, Vash is still there, warm and soft in his arm. Vash helps him make breakfast, lets Nico drops him off at his house, and still comes back to see him at the diner, always asking for the largest piece of pie he can get and bothering Nico with as many refills as he can take. He introduces Nico to Meryl and Milly, who quickly take him into their friend group despite him sharing very little with their lives, and even gets Nai, who spends months after Nico starts dating Vash glaring at him and replies with nothing but little grunts, to open up to him. He encourages Nico to make Livio more of a part of his life, and when Nico introduces Livio nowadays, he introduces him as his little brother. And when Nico says he plans to enroll in a mortician program and try to make something out of himself, Vash is there every step of the way, encouraging and supporting him.
It surprises Nico that when the third years roll around, Vash and Nico are still together, sharing their milestones and mundane moments with the kind of joy and cherished they did when they first start.
Nico looks back to the long string of disappointments he has had over the years, all the time he’s only been second-thought to someone. The pain is still there, and it might never go away, etched itself into Nico’s skin and refuse to ever heal. But he’s alright, because Vash is here with him now, and all is okay.